Christopher Columbus has become one of the most polarizing figures in American history. Our nation used to revere Columbus as one of America’s greatest heroes. Now, he’s one of the Republic’s greatest villains.
Leftist revolutionaries depict Columbus as a power-hungry maniac who wanted to enslave and annihilate the natives. Any honor of Columbus—whether it’s a statue or a holiday—must be torn down and replaced, according to the liberal revolutionaries.
In contrast, the Right depicts Columbus as a nationalist pioneer. The Right defends his legacy as that of a courageous pioneer whose actions led to the eventual formation of the United States of America. However, both sides miss a significant fact from Columbus’ life.
Columbus was not a genocidal villain or a nationalist explorer; he was a saintly man who wanted to win souls for Christ. Columbus should be revered as America’s saintly founder.
Columbus, indeed, was a man of Providence. From his landing in the Americas on the feast of Our Lady of Pillar on October 12, 1492, to the etymology of his name, Columbus’ life was guided by the hand of God. Christopher, which means Christ-bearer, and Columbus, which relates to the dove, the common symbol of the Holy Spirit, shows that his name reflected a great mission that God had bestowed on him.
Columbus did not fail to live up to his namesake. He sought to follow the command of the Great Commission and evangelize all the natives he encountered. Often, modern history books fail to discuss Columbus’ desire to evangelize, but this desire served as one of the primary factors for his mission.
An entry in his journal states,
I gave them many beautiful and pleasing things, which I had brought with me, for no return whatever, to win their affection, and that they might become Christians and inclined to love our King and Queen and Princes and all the people of Spain; and that they might be eager to search for and gather and give to us what they abound in and we greatly need.
Columbus—like all Catholics at that time—understood that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church and that baptism is essential for salvation. Columbus’ first instinct was not to murder the natives but to save their souls. The pagan natives were in desperate need of a massive reordering of their culture, and Columbus provided them with the path to salvation. While many Spaniards wanted to exploit the natives, Columbus chose to defend their rights and dignity.
Pope Leo XIII recognized this zeal, as he wrote in Quarto Abeunte Saeculo, “Columbus resolved to go before and prepare the ways for the Gospel, and, deeply absorbed in this idea, gave all his energies to it, attempting hardly anything without religion for his guide and piety for his companion.”
In a field full of prideful men and arrogance, Columbus remained the shining light for all men to imitate. Samuel Eliot Morison wrote in Admiral of the Ocean Sea that
Columbus was a Man with a Mission, and such men are apt to be unreasonable and disagreeable to those who cannot see the mission…He was Man alone with God against human stupidity and depravity, against greedy conquistadors, cowardly seamen, even against nature and the sea.
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Leftist revolutionaries depict Columbus as a power-hungry maniac who wanted to enslave and annihilate the natives. Any honor of Columbus—whether it’s a statue or a holiday—must be torn down and replaced, according to the liberal revolutionaries.
In contrast, the Right depicts Columbus as a nationalist pioneer. The Right defends his legacy as that of a courageous pioneer whose actions led to the eventual formation of the United States of America. However, both sides miss a significant fact from Columbus’ life.
Columbus was not a genocidal villain or a nationalist explorer; he was a saintly man who wanted to win souls for Christ. Columbus should be revered as America’s saintly founder.
Columbus, indeed, was a man of Providence. From his landing in the Americas on the feast of Our Lady of Pillar on October 12, 1492, to the etymology of his name, Columbus’ life was guided by the hand of God. Christopher, which means Christ-bearer, and Columbus, which relates to the dove, the common symbol of the Holy Spirit, shows that his name reflected a great mission that God had bestowed on him.
Columbus did not fail to live up to his namesake. He sought to follow the command of the Great Commission and evangelize all the natives he encountered. Often, modern history books fail to discuss Columbus’ desire to evangelize, but this desire served as one of the primary factors for his mission.
An entry in his journal states,
I gave them many beautiful and pleasing things, which I had brought with me, for no return whatever, to win their affection, and that they might become Christians and inclined to love our King and Queen and Princes and all the people of Spain; and that they might be eager to search for and gather and give to us what they abound in and we greatly need.
Columbus—like all Catholics at that time—understood that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church and that baptism is essential for salvation. Columbus’ first instinct was not to murder the natives but to save their souls. The pagan natives were in desperate need of a massive reordering of their culture, and Columbus provided them with the path to salvation. While many Spaniards wanted to exploit the natives, Columbus chose to defend their rights and dignity.
Pope Leo XIII recognized this zeal, as he wrote in Quarto Abeunte Saeculo, “Columbus resolved to go before and prepare the ways for the Gospel, and, deeply absorbed in this idea, gave all his energies to it, attempting hardly anything without religion for his guide and piety for his companion.”
In a field full of prideful men and arrogance, Columbus remained the shining light for all men to imitate. Samuel Eliot Morison wrote in Admiral of the Ocean Sea that
Columbus was a Man with a Mission, and such men are apt to be unreasonable and disagreeable to those who cannot see the mission…He was Man alone with God against human stupidity and depravity, against greedy conquistadors, cowardly seamen, even against nature and the sea.
Read the Whole Article
The post Christopher Columbus: America’s Saintly Founder appeared first on LewRockwell.
The post <a href=https://www.lewrockwell.com/2024/10/no_author/christopher-columbus-americas-saintly-founder/ target=_blank >Christopher Columbus: America’s Saintly Founder</a> appeared first on Conservative Angle | Conservative Angle - Conservative News Clearing House
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